"Russia still doesn’t see any facts of Moscow’s guilt in the case of Sergei Skripal," Lavrov stressed. "London is making every effort to push the relations with Russia into a deadlock."

Ex-Colonel Sergei Skripal from Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate, who had been sentenced in Russia for spying for the UK, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent on March 4 and found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury. Both of them have been hospitalized and are in critical condition.

British authorities blamed Russia for the poisoning, but failed to provide any evidence to support their accusations. Russia refuted all of London’s allegations. UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and the suspension of high-level bilateral contacts. In response to London’s moves, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of 23 British diplomats, and ordered to close the British consulate general in St. Petersburg, and terminate the British Council’s activity in Russia.